[Article from The Citizen Advertiser, Auburn, N.Y., Saturday, November 11, 1933]
He Wanted Civilization
But Mowery Now Writes About Wild Places
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| William Byron Mowery (1899 – 1957) Photo courtesy EBay seller |
William Byron Mowery, author of “Forbidden Valley,” the Citizen Advertiser’s serial of the Canadian woods, spends much of leisure exploring with an airplane.
William Byron Mowery, writer of stories about the woods and out-doors, was himself born in the “backwoods” country but throughout his childhood wanted to escape from an environment he thought cruel and barbaric. He is the author of the Citizen-Advertiser’s neat-serial, “Forbidden Valley.”
At the age of 11 he left his family’s migratory, “chicken-wagon” home and started out to see the world. For 18 months he tramped about the country, visiting 30-odd states. After a winter’s trapping in the Athabasca country, he roamed the United States for another two years and. then entered high school at 18.
Yearning for “civilization” was responsible for his graduation from Ohio State University and the University of Illinois, where he joined the English department faculty, later going to the University of Texas in a similar position.
His writing career started when he read a “north woods” story in which description and details were so inaccurate that Mowery determined he could do better himself. Editors seemed to agree and in three years he produced more than 400 published stories. He did not receive wide recognition as an author, however, until he began taking more time on stories and sharply curtailed his output.
The Mowery family, headed by the man who once wanted only “Civilizing Influences,” now spends the major portion of the year in out-door activities, exploring, mountain-climbing and camping.
“Forbidden Valley” is a story of the Canadian, forests, packed with action, drama and a full-sized helping of romance. The first installment will appear in The Citizen-Advertiser Monday, November 13.